Fire door



April 30, 1968 T. P. MCKENNA FIRE DOOR Filed March 2l. 1966 United States Patent Oy 3,380,192 FIRE DOOR Thomas P. McKenna, North English, Iowa 52316 Filed Mar. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 535,813 2 Claims. (Cl. 49-62) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A re door including a frame means hingedly secured at one side to a support means and having a removable panel detachably mounted in the frame means. A locking means normally maintains the panel within the frame means and may be unlocked to permit the panel to disengage from the frame means.

Fire doors are commonly used in public buildings such as schools and the like. The fire doors are usually locked to prevent entry into the building but iire regulations require that these doors can be opened from inside the building. A problem therefore arises when admission is being charged to enter the building through a controlled access and the re doors Iare positioned distant therefrom and not visible from the controlled access. Commonly, a person will simply open the fire door from inside the building thereby permitting other persons to enter the building without paying the admission charge.

Therefore, a principal object of this invention is to provide a re door having a drop out panel removably mounted therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide a iire door which may be opened from the inside of the building during times of emergency.

A further object of this invention is to provide a iire door which discourages the unauthorized opening thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lire door which complies with the prescribed fire regulations.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fire door which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is an inside view of the door;

FIG. 2 is an inside view of the removable panel portion of the re door;

FIG. 3 is an inside view of the fire door with portions thereof broken away -to more fully illustrate the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view as would be seen on line 4 4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side view of the removable panel as would be seen on line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

The lire door of this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. Door is hingedly secured to a supporting frame 11 and includes an inside surface 13 and an outside surface 15. Door 10 is comprised of a rectangular frame means 17 and a central panel portion 18 removably mounted therein. Frame means 17 includes a top frame member 19, bottom frame member 21 and opposi-te side frame members 23 and 25 which define a central opening 27.

A locking means 29 is slidably mounted in side frame member between the inside and outside surfaces thereof and includes a vertically disposed rod 31 having tabs 33 and 3S extending from the upper and lower ends thereof respectively into central opening 27. A handle 3,380,192` Patented Apr. 30, 1968 37 is secured to rod 31 intermediate the length thereof and extends inwardly through opening 39 in side frame member 25 as illustrated in the drawings.

A locking means 29 is slidably mounted in side frame member 23 between the inside and outside surfaces thereof and includes a vertically disposed rod 31 having tabs 33' and 35 extending from the upper and lower ends thereof respectively into central opening 27. A handle 37' is secured to rod 31 intermediate the length thereof and eX- tends inwardly through opening 39' in side frame member 23 Central panel portion 18 includes an outer panel member 41 and an inner panel member 43. As best seen in FIG. 2, the dimensions of inner panel member 43 are less than the dimensions of outer panel member 41. The dimensions of inner panel member 43 are such that it can be received by central opening 27. The opposite side edges 45 and 47 of inner panel member 43 are provided with slots 49, 51 and 53, 55 extending thereinto respectively which are adapted to slidably receive tabs 33', 35' and 33, 35 respectively. Inner panel member 43 is provided with cut out portions 57, 59, 61 and 63 formed therein which are in communication with the upper ends of slots 49, 51, 53 and 55 respectively.

Preferably, fire door 10 is constructed of a suitable iire proof material.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the assembled fire door 10 has the central panel portion 18 mounted therein between the frame members of frame means 17. Central panel portion 18 is maintained within frame means 17 by the tabs on rods 31 and 31 engaging slots 49, 51, 53 and 55 which prevents movement of panel portion 18 with respect to frame means 17. When lthe need arises, central panel portion 18 can be removed from frame means 17 by simply moving handles 37 and 37 upwardly in openings 39 and 39' respectively. The upward movement of handles 39 and 39 causes rods 31 and 31 to be slidably moved upwardly in side frame members 25 and 23 respectively. The upward movement of rods 31 and 31' causes the tabs 33, 35, 33 and 35 to be moved upwardly in their respective slots so that the tabs are positioned in cutouts 61, 63, 57 and 59 respectively. When the tabs are so positioned, the central panel portion 18 will simply fall outwardly from frame means 17 thereby providing an exit from the building through central opening 27. It can be seen in FIG. 4, that outer panel member 41 prevents central panel portion 18 from falling inwardly from frame means 17 inasmuch as the dimensions of outer panel member 41 are greater than the dimensions of central opening 27.

Thus 'it can be seen that an extremely simple but eilicient re door has been provided which has removable panel mounted therein to permit an emergency exit therethrough even though the door is in a locked position. The fact that central panel portion 18 does fall from frame means 17 when handles 37 and 37 are moved upwardly, individuals will be deterred in their desire to permit unauthorized entry into the building.

Central panel portion 18 is reinstalled in frame means 17 by simply placing it within frame means 17 and moving rods 31 and 31 downwardly so that the tabs thereon will again engage their respective slots in central panel portion 18.

Thus it can be seen that -the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my tire door without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modied forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a fire door,

a frame means having spaced apart opposite side members, a top member extending between the upper ends of said side members, a bottom member extending between the lower ends of said side members,

one of said side members adapted to be hingedly secured to a support means,

a removable panel detachably mounted in said frame means between said side members and said top and bottom members,

and locking means on at least one of said frame means and said panel, said locking means being movable between locked and unlocked positions to maintain said panel in said frame means when said locking means is in its locked` position and to permit said removable panel to disengage from said frame means when said locking means is in its unlocked position,

said frame means having inside and outside surfaces, said panel dropping outwardly therefrom when said locking means is moved to its unlocked position,

each of said side members having an elongated member vertically slidably movable therein, each of said elongated members having spaced apart tab portions extending therefrom which are detachably received by said panel, each of said elongated members having a handle member extending through the inside surface of said frame means,

said panel having opposite side edges with slots extending thereinto, said panel having openings formed in its inside surface which are in communication with said slots, said slots receiving said tab portions when said locking means is in its locked position, said tab portions being moved into said openings when said locking means is moved to its unlocked position to disengage said panel from said tab portions.

Gil

2. In a iire door,

a frame means having spaced apart opposite side members, a top member extending between the upper ends of said side members, a bottom member extending between the lower ends of said side members,

one of said side members adapted to be hingedly secured to a support means,

a removable panel detachably mounted in said frame means between said side members and said top and bottom members,

and locking means on at least one of said frame means and said panel, said locking means being movable between locked and unlocked positions to maintain said panel in said frame means when said locking means is in its locked position and to permit said removable panel to disengage from said frame means when said locking means is in its unlocked position,

said frame means having inside and outside surfaces, said panel dropping outwardly therefrom when said locking means is moved to its unlocked position,

each of said side mem-bers having an elongated member vertically slidably movable therein, each of said elongated members having spaced apart tab portions extending therefrom which are detachably received by said panel, each of said elongated members having a handle member extending through the inside surface of said frame means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 35 KENNETH DowNEY, Primary Examiner. 

